Cooking With Gourmet Coffee

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp espresso beans, crushed with a rolling pin or
chopped in a food processor to medium-fine crumbs
1 oz. (2 Tbs.) butter
Pinch salt

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment and spray
the parchment with nonstick cooking spray or grease it lightly.

In a medium heavy-based saucepan, combine the sugar and water.
Heat over high heat, swirling the pot occasionally (don’t stir it) for
even color, until it turns light amber. Add the crushed espresso
beans (don’t worry if the sugar seems to foam), swirl them around
in the caramel, and continue to cook until the caramel turns brown.
Remove the pan from the heat.

Carefully whisk in the butter and salt (the butter will sputter).
Immediately pour the brittle onto the prepared baking sheet, quickly
tilting the baking sheet to get the brittle to flow into a thin layer
(be careful — the brittle is very hot). As it cools and slows down, use a
metal spatula to spread it into an even thinner layer. Let cool.
Chop two-thirds of the cooled brittle into small pieces by sealing it in
a plastic bag and smashing it with a mallet or rolling pin. Sift the
crumbs in a strainer if you don’t want the powder. Break the remaining
brittle into shards and use them to garnish bowls of the ice cream.

Yield: about 1 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup brewed espresso or strong, dark coffee1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped, about 1 cup
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 fresh hot chili peppers, such as jalapeno, or hotter if desired, seeded
2 tablespoons hot dry mustard mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder

Instructions

Put all of the ingredients in a small pot, stir them together, and bring to
a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat so the mixture is just
simmering and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pot form the
heat, let the mixture cool, then puree it in a blender or food processor
fitted with the steel blade.

The barbecue sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Use with Grilled Pork Chops.

Yield: about 3 cups

#2 Coffee Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients

¼ cup vegetable oil
½ onion, chopped
½ cup chopped garlic
½ cup chopped fresh corriander
1 serrano or small green chilli pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup coffee beans
¼ cup dark-brown sugar
¾ cup red-wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup ketchup
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp finely ground pepper
2 cups tomato fondue

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add onion, garlic,
coriander, serrano, cumin, chilli powder, red pepper,
lemon and coffee beans. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Stir brown sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and ketchup into
the saucepan. Cook, stirring occassionally until liquid
is reduced by approximately half.

Stir salt, ground pepper and tomato fondue into the saucepan.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Strain and adjust seasoning to taste

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 eggs
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold strong coffee
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 tbl. bourbon
4 tbl. coffee liqueur
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. To make crust, mix the crumbs, sugar, melted butter and nutmeg, and spoon into a 9-inch pie plate. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and against the side. Bake 5 minutes. Cool thoroughly.

To make the filling, separate the eggs and set aside. Sprinkle the gelatin over the coffee in a saucepan. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar, salt and the egg yolks. Stir thoroughly. Cook over low heat only until the gelatin is dissolved. Do not boil. Remove the mixture from the heat. Add the bourbon and the liqueur.

Chill until it starts to thicken but do not let it jell. Beat egg whites until stiff, adding the remaining sugar gradually. Fold them into the gelatin mixture. Whip the cream and fold it into the mixture. Spoon this into the crust and chill for 5 hours. Garnish with more whipped cream if desired.

Smoothie recipes are quite popular these days, and for good reason: they´re simple to prepare, good for you, and delicious. A smoothie is a great breakfast on the run when you´re pressed for time. Still, there are a few little preparation quirks that distinguish a good smoothie from a great one - at least in my book. For one, I like to par-freeze the fruit I´m using - not rock solid, mind you - because it helps thicken the drink; room temperature fruit only thins it. Ditto for the liquid I use, in this case coffee - usually left over from the pot I´ve made that morning. As prepared here, this smoothie has a mild coffee flavor, but if you want a stronger coffee kick then go ahead and use some, or all, coffee yogurt instead of the French vanilla. Note that chocolate syrup may be used as well, for a mocha flavor profile - but do go easy with it, so you don´t mask the coffee flavor. Finally, never over-blend smoothies because the friction tends to thin them out.

3/4 to 1 cup fresh brewed coffee, cooled
1 medium banana, peeled
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or honey, to taste (optional)
1 1/2 cups French vanilla yogurt (low-fat or nonfat is fine)
1 to 2 tablespoons protein powder or other nutritional powder (optional)
1 teaspoon chocolate syrup (optional)
1 drop vanilla extract

1. Twenty to thirty minutes before you plan to mix your smoothie, put the coffee in a shallow pan and place it in the freezer, stirring once or twice after 15 minutes. It should become slushy-icy. Thinly slice the banana onto a plate and put that in the freezer as well, to chill. While you´re waiting, chill the 2 or 3 glasses you plan to serve this in.

2. When you´re ready to proceed, combine the chilled coffee, banana, and sugar to taste in a blender. Blend just until smooth.

3. Add the yogurt and any of the remaining ingredients you wish to use. Blend again, briefly, just until smooth. Taste, adding a little more sugar if needed. Transfer to the chilled glasses and serve.

Makes 2 to 3 servings